Editorial - Souls and Soul Trees

Granted my MMO's experience is limited, but I believe the starter area, and especially the tutorial system, in RIFT gives new players a great introduction to the game mechanics.  This is especially true of the new design for the acquisition of souls and soul tree planning. 

My question is when does simplification and guided creations cross the line into an un-immersive world full of uncreative people? 


Rift's soul system runs almost opposite to other MMO's. With eight souls per calling, all interchangeable, Trion provides the unique, and sometimes difficult, task of choosing and combining three souls to mold character skills to suit individual play styles.

Soul Tutorial

Although the tutorial system is detailed, soul flexibility has led to some confusion and intimidation among those who were unsure of the best combinations. Best combination? Isn't the flexibility the beauty of the system? I'm not talking about the max level raiders, min/max'ers, or damage meter readers. Those types of players will never use the purpose built system, opting instead to seek out the top player-made build, regardless of the flexibility of the system. For the average player, however, the flexibility of the soul system allows unique combinations that were put together because of the additional enjoyment they brought to the game, not because it was a soul tree on rails.

Enter the purpose system - giving newer players an idea of the flexibility of each calling before they even click create. The purpose system is essentially the previously mentioned soul tree on rails. As a player who has experienced both systems, I believe this new addition is a great innovation in assisting new players, but I am worried that its addition has helped propel the declining uniqueness of the game. Not only are new players gently eased into the complex soul system of Rift though the pre-designed combination of three souls, but veteran players can also use the system to take a back seat to soul planning.



The Rogue Purpose List

With the entrance of the purpose system, I have seen fewer players running through Telara as Bladedancers, Cabalists, and Wardens, some truly enjoyable souls whose finer points are trickier to get a handle on. Why are these souls in decline? The premade tracks available use some of the most flexible, and some of the most iconic, of the callings. Many people choose them rather than create their own souls, even with the option to create their own soul available. These players understand how the soul system works but still choose the premade souls. Why? Because players want to play. Trion knows this. Many people are not interested in the experimentation required to form their own soul. They just want to play. A characteristic of many of Trion's more recent introductions is pick up the game, jump in, and begin to play; this system does just that.

The purpose system is not the only change that has been introduced into the area of souls. The first, and most influential, happened in August 2011, only five months post launch, when Trion introduced souls for purchase. Many people see this as a Role-players issue. They wouldn't be wrong, but it stretches much further than that. The soul system, as a mechanic, makes Rift unique. Souls, as a piece of lore and story, give that mechanic grounding within the game. In Rift, the reason we select souls is not to arbitrarily gain skills. Your soul results from the blessing of the Vigil or the technological advancements of your chosen affiliation; the soul tree mechanic is a natural extension of the story.

With the change to souls for purchase the soul tethering process, an act that was in keeping with the world and fit within the mechanics, was removed. Unfortunately this was the first step on the road to a game that places a higher importance on player accessibility than uniqueness, creativity, and story. For a time the shift increased the possibility that all players would access all souls, increasing the versatility and uniqueness of the game. However, the addition of the soul purpose system has returned us to a place where only a few of the multitude of combinations are used.

These changes have left the world feeling less organic. They were moves I'm sure many were pleased with. However it opened the door for changes in the future that could mean the end of story driven content in this very story driven game.

Do you have an opinion on this subject? Keep the conversation evolving by leaving a comment below.